Shane Parrish and Maya Shankar dive into the complexities of identity and personal transformation. They explore how significant life changes can reshape one's sense of self and explain how to navigate these transitions. Maya shares her personal stories and tips on making proactive choices and keeping a flexible, layered sense of self. They also discuss the psychological and philosophical aspects of identity, offering practical advice on goal-setting and personal growth.
Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and the creator, executive producer, and host of the podcast, A Slight Change of Plans. Shankar was a Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House Behavioral Science Team. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Oxford and a B.A from Yale.

(00:00) Intro

(02:40) Shankar's "almost unbelievable" story of getting into Julliard

(05:30) Why Shankar studied identity

(11:38) What is identity?

(14:52) Using your identity to accomplish your goals

(18:00) Using anti-identities to accomplish your goals

(18:51) What to do when your identity is "attacked"

(26:30) How to re-establish trust in institutions

(32:30) Use identity to start a positive habit

(35:35) How to debunk myths with stories and facts

(37:18) How does how we frame our goals help (or prevent) us from accomplishing them

(43:11) The one motivational technique Shankar uses every day

(45:15) On success

Watch the episode on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/theknowledgeproject/videos⁠⁠

Newsletter - I share timeless insights and ideas you can use at work and home. Join over 600k others every Sunday and subscribe to Brain Food. Try it: ⁠⁠https://fs.blog/newsletter/⁠⁠

My Book! Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results is out now - ⁠⁠https://fs.blog/clear/⁠⁠

Follow me: ⁠⁠https://beacons.ai/shaneparrish⁠⁠

Join our membership: ⁠⁠https://fs.blog/membership/

It's surprising how often we give our kids orders: "Do this!" "Don't do that!" But if we want to raise resilient and independent kids, is this the right approach? Michaeleen Doucleff argues there's a better way, and in this conversation, she explains why and shares practical strategies for solving the parenting "crisis" in the modern world.

In this conversation, Doucleff reveals four parenting principles that will help foster resilience and independence in your kids while protecting and enhancing their emotional well-being. Shane and Doucleff discuss her observations on how different cultures approach parenting and how their practices can help alleviate the burdens we place on ourselves and our children. We also explore the role of technology and its impact on our parenting and our children's development and maturity.
Michaeleen Doucleff is the author of Hunt, Gather, Parent. Her work has taken her all over the world to explore, observe, and learn from the parenting practices of various cultures. She is also a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk.

(00:00) Intro

(04:12) How (and why) we've lost our way as parents

(08:02) The rise of the nuclear family

(13:46) TEAM Parenting: T

(17:20) TEAM Parenting: E

(23:01) Why you don't need to praise your child

(26:12) TEAM Parenting: A

(36:42) TEAM Parenting: M

(38:34) "Kids do not need to be entertained"

(39:12) Technology, parenting, and transmitting values

(1:02:59) Resources parents can use to educate kids about technology

(1:04:50) How you can use the environment to give kids autonomy

(1:09:56) Success and parenting

Watch the episode on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/theknowledgeproject/videos⁠

Newsletter - I share timeless insights and ideas you can use at work and home. Join over 600k others every Sunday and subscribe to Brain Food. Try it: ⁠https://fs.blog/newsletter/⁠

My Book! Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results is out now - ⁠https://fs.blog/clear/⁠

Follow me: ⁠https://beacons.ai/shaneparrish⁠

Join our membership: ⁠https://fs.blog/membership/

Succeeding in both life and business is very difficult. The skills needed to scale a company often clash with those required to cultivate a thriving home life. Yet, Brent Beshore seems to have cracked the code—or at least he's actively working on it. In this conversation, he spills his secrets on excelling in both arenas.

This episode is split into two parts: the first 45 minutes covers life and how to be a better person. Brent opens up about the evolution of his marriage, physical health, and inner life.

The rest of the episode focuses on business. Shane and Beshore discuss private equity, how to hire (and when to fire) CEOs, incentives, why debt isn’t a good thing in an unpredictable world, stewardship versus ownership, and why personality tests are so important for a functional organization.
After beginning his career as an entrepreneur, Brent Beshore founded Permanent Equity in 2007 and leads the firm as CEO. He works with investors and operators to evaluate new investment opportunities.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theknowledgeproject/videos

Newsletter - I share timeless insights and ideas you can use at work and home. Join over 600k others every Sunday and subscribe to Brain Food. Try it: https://fs.blog/newsletter/

My Book! Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results is out now - https://fs.blog/clear/

Follow me: https://beacons.ai/shaneparrish

Join our membership: https://fs.blog/membership/

Sponsors:

Shopify: Making commerce better for everyone. https://www.shopify.com/shane

Protekt: Simple solutions to support healthy routines. Enter the code "Knowledge" at checkout to receive 30% off your order. https://protekt.com/knowledge

(00:00) Intro

(05:08) Why Brent examined his life

(09:44) How Brent "fixed" his relationships

(20:04) How helping hurts

(32:13) How Brent was subtly controlling relationships

(40:36) Why Brent stopped drinking (mostly)

(50:29) How to run a business with love yet competitively

(01:00:34) Win-win relationships

(01:05:34) On debt

(01:19:28) On incentives

(01:29:08) How to hire and fire CEOs

(01:34:18) What most people miss about hiring

(01:44:19) Brent's playbook for taking over a company

(01:51:20) On projections

(01:55:52) Revisiting investments

(01:58:44) How "hands-off" is Brent?

(02:08:34) Where people go wrong in private equity

(02:14:07) On success